Combatting Cartels to Secure Our Southern Border| 11.30.24 - Morning Wire

Summary

Morning Wire Podcast Summary

Episode: Combatting Cartels to Secure Our Southern Border
Release Date: November 30, 2024
Hosts: John Bickley & Georgia Howe
Guest: Congressman Dan Crenshaw

1. Introduction: Addressing Border Security and Cartel Influence

In this compelling episode of Morning Wire, hosts John Bickley and Georgia Howe engage in an in-depth discussion with Congressman Dan Crenshaw about the escalating threat posed by Mexican cartels and the illegal fentanyl trade at the United States' southern border. The conversation sets the stage by highlighting the detrimental impact of past border policies and the urgent need for a robust strategy to dismantle cartel operations.

2. Formation of the Cartel Task Force

Congressman Crenshaw explains his selection to lead a congressional task force dedicated to combating Mexican drug cartels. He emphasizes the inadequacies of the existing border security bill (HR2), particularly its lack of focus on cartel-related issues.

Crenshaw (00:51): "There was nothing in that bill that dealt with cartels and that we had no real plan to deal with cartels from a legislative perspective."

He describes the task force as a bipartisan effort aimed at researching and formulating specific policy objectives to effectively address cartel influence.

3. Policy Recommendations to Combat Cartel Influence

Crenshaw outlines a multifaceted approach to tackling cartel operations both within the United States and internationally. His recommendations include legislative reforms, enhanced funding for specific agencies, and strategic collaborations with Mexico.

Legislative Reforms: One significant achievement is the reauthorization of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which now includes the ability to collect intelligence on entities involved in the creation of synthetic opioids.

Crenshaw (01:41): "We actually tie our own hands behind our back from intelligence collection using FISA against entities like cartel affiliates and Chinese companies that make the precursors for fentanyl, we don't even allow it."

Increasing Fines and Funding: Crenshaw advocates for increasing fines for entities that facilitate cartel operations and allocating more resources to agencies like Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) to track financial flows, including Bitcoin transactions, used by cartels.

Crenshaw (02:20): "If you mislabel, for instance, air cargo purposefully and you're actually caught... make that $5 million or, you know, something like that."

4. Building a Partnership with Mexico

A critical component of Crenshaw's strategy is forging a stronger partnership with Mexico. He draws parallels between the current situation in Mexico and Colombia in the 1990s, suggesting that a similar cooperative approach could yield significant improvements in combating cartels.

Crenshaw (03:10): "Mexico has always given America the stiff arm, and that dates back to memories from the 1840s and Mexican American War."

He expresses optimism about the new Mexican administration's potential willingness to collaborate more effectively with the United States in dismantling cartel operations.

Crenshaw (04:05): "We're really hopeful about the new administration of Mexico. They took power in October, and I believe they will be a lot more pragmatic in allowing us to help them rid their country of what is effectively the most powerful terrorist insurgency in the world."

5. Assessing Cartel Operations Within the United States

The discussion shifts to the extent of cartel operations on U.S. soil. Crenshaw explains that while direct cartel members from Mexico might not be prevalent in U.S. cities, local gang members who collaborate with cartels handle drug distribution and other illicit activities.

Crenshaw (07:49): "They're the bosses of these people operating in any location in the US... but a lot of the traffickers coming across are probably U.S. citizens."

He also touches upon the issue of "gotaways" at the border—individuals fleeing from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)—suggesting that their actions indicate deeper criminal activities beyond simple immigration issues.

Crenshaw (08:05): "If you're actually trying to evade border patrol, you're trafficking something, you have weapons, you're a criminal, there's something different about you that's the truth."

6. Future Steps and Legislative Initiatives

Looking ahead, Crenshaw outlines his immediate priorities, which include persuading the Speaker to establish a select committee focused on combating cartels. He highlights the inefficiencies of existing committee structures and argues that a select committee would streamline legislative efforts and provide necessary resources.

Crenshaw (09:41): "I'm formally calling on us to create a select committee to actually combat the problem."

He underscores the importance of expanding the task force's capabilities through increased staffing and funding, envisioning substantial progress with the establishment of a dedicated committee.

7. Addressing Gang-Related Activities: The Case of Tendar Agua

In the final segment, the conversation shifts to gang-related activities within the United States, specifically the rise of Tendar Agua operating in at least 16 states. While acknowledging the complexity and his limited expertise in this area, Crenshaw emphasizes the intertwined nature of local gangs and international cartels.

Crenshaw (10:36): "Criminals look for other criminals to work together with. That's how all of this works."

He notes that while Tendar Agua's exact operations require further investigation by the FBI and law enforcement agencies, the overarching strategy remains focused on dismantling the cartel infrastructure that supports such gangs.

8. Conclusion

Congressman Dan Crenshaw's insights provide a comprehensive overview of the challenges and potential solutions in securing the U.S. southern border against cartel influence. His emphasis on legislative reform, enhanced agency funding, and international cooperation with Mexico presents a strategic roadmap aimed at eradicating the pervasive threat posed by powerful drug cartels.

This summary encapsulates the key discussions and insights from the November 30, 2024 episode of Morning Wire featuring Congressman Dan Crenshaw. For a deeper understanding, listeners are encouraged to tune into the full episode.

Transcript

A (0:03)

After years of destructive open border policies during the Biden Harris administration, Congressman Dan Crenshaw has been tasked with combating the growing influence of Mexican cartels and the illegal flow of fentanyl at our southern border.

B (0:15)

We sat down with the Navy SEAL veteran to hear his plan to build a strong partnership with Mexico in order to dismantle the cartels and secure America's border. I'm Daley Weyer, Editor in Chief. John Bickley with Georgia Howe, November 30th, and this is a Saturday edition of Morning Wire. Joining us now to discuss his plan to secure our southern border and dismantle the Mexican drug cartels is Congressman Dan Crenshaw. Congressman, thank you so much for joining us. So last year you were tapped by the speaker to lead the task force to combat Mexican drug cartels First. How were you chosen?

A (0:51)

Well, because this was on the heels of passing HR2, you know, our flagship border security bill. And I had the complaint to the speaker that there was nothing in that bill that dealt with cartels and that we had no real plan to deal with cartels from a legislative perspective. And that was the point I brought up to him and a demand I had that we either do add it to HR2 or figure something else out. And from that conversation came the idea of the task force, where a task force can be many things in Congress, but it's usually a bipartisan group of members that use their time to research a very specific policy objective, in this case cartels. And that's how it started.

B (1:32)

And what recommendations are you making for US Policy to combat cartel influence both domestically and abroad going forward?

A (1:40)

Yeah, I mean, some of these things have already been done. Others still need to be accomplished, and a lot of it really depends on Mexico itself. That's one of the bigger lessons we've learned from all this research. To give you examples of things we've accomplished. Well, reauthorizing FISA was a huge one. During that reauthorization, we not only made a lot of changes and reforms to FISA that would prevent another crossfire hurricane, which I know a lot of people are concerned about, but we also added some capabilities. You might be surprised to hear that we actually tie our own hands behind our back from intelligence collection using FISA against entities like cartel affiliates and Chinese companies that make the precursors for fentanyl, we don't even allow it. We don't allow ourselves to collect on that. So we changed that with the Pfizer authorization, basically added a fourth category to the three categories of collection that currently exist. And that fourth category would be anyone involved in creation of synthetic opioids. So as before, we couldn't even collect on a broker or a banker or a driver for the cartels, and we couldn't collect on a company in China, you know, willingly creating precursors and illegally labeling, shipping them to the US And Mexico to make fentanyl that kills Americans. So now we can't. That was a pretty big deal. Now what do we want to do? Well, like, there's a variety of things that are frankly, low hanging fruit. I mean, if you mislabel, for instance, air cargo purposefully and you're actually caught, and so difficult enough to catch a CBP as an entire task force dedicated to that in LA, it's only a $5,000 fine. So, you know, this is barely even a scratch on the cartels or the companies facilitating them. So here's one quick law change is make that 5 million or, you know, something like that, easy ones. Sometimes it's just about funding certain agencies like HSI that are doing very specific work on tracking the money flows that the cartels use. You know, they're underfunded. They don't have enough licenses bought for a specific program that tracks Bitcoin, for instance. Sometimes it's just as easy as giving them that extra money so that they can buy the extra licenses and hire the extra analysts. Looking at the bigger picture, though, what you really need is a deal with Mexico. Mexico is not Colombia. But we do need to make the analogy because they're in very similar situations, just in different timeframes. Mexico is in the same situation as Colombia was back in the 90s. Colombia was a near failed state. You had the narco wars with the Medellin cartel and then the Cali cartel, which devolved into the guerrilla wars which continue to this day. But to far lesser extent, far lesser extent, I know from personal experience because I went to high school in Colombia. I was there during the height of the civil war against the guerrillas, the FARC at the eln. So the difference is the Colombians welcome American security cooperation in with open arms, and they always have. We have a very tight relationship with the Colombians, and as a result, you've seen a ton of improvement over the last 30 years. Mexico has always given America the stiff arm, and that dates back to memories from the 1840s and Mexican American War.